Pyrus: Rise Of Darkness

Murder In The Woods

When, I finally get home, I immediately rush to Firebolt's room to feed the little guy. He looks like he might burst, so I take him out for a pee first. Then, after he eats, I grab a collar and leash and take him to the square.
Sky and Rocky are already there. There is an owl perched on Sky's arm, and a young Griffin sits obediently at Rocky's feet.
Sky rushes over to see my dragon. "Oh my centaurs, he's so cute!" she gushed. "What's his name?"
"This is Firebolt," I tell her. "Firebolt, this is Sky. Say hello." He burps.
Sky laughs. "Well, he is very adorable," she compliments. "This is Fluffy, my owl, and that's Ricky, my brother's baby Griffin."
"Ricky and Rocky," I muse. "Best be careful not to confuse the two." Sky laughs again.
"You're a riot, Pyrus," she chuckles.
I take a bow, and just then, Gale walks over with a small red bird. "Hello everyone," she says. Noticing my position, she adds "Oh, are we performing? I have this really neat trick. It's called 'The Trick Where I Shove Pyrus Into The Ground.'" She then attempts to push me over, and we all end up laughing.
"So who's that?" I ask, pointing to her bird.
"This? Oh, this is Ash," Gale says. "He's a Phoenix."
"I've read about those," exclaims Sky. "Don't they die, and then become reborn from the ashes?"
"Uh huh," says Gale, nodding. "Hello, Fluffy. How are you, Ricky?" she adds, stroking each animal in turn. "And who's this little fella?" she asks me.
"This would be Firebolt," I say. "He's a dragon, by the way."
Gale snickers. "Yeah, figured that out. Oh, he is adorable!" she says, petting Firebolt, who purrs.
"Well, I'm sure Firebolt would be interested in meeting this little girl," says a voice from behind us. It's Lilly, and she's cradling a small, shiny white dragon in her arms. "This is Frost, Pyrus."
"Why, hello there, Frost. I'm Pyrus," I introduce. "And this is Firebolt." He begins yipping and squirming, so I set him down. Lilly does the same and the two dragons chirp and paw at each other.
Then River walks over with a salamander. "This is Newt," she announces. "He is a magic salamander, with 6 legs, fireproof scales, and venom that we had removed so he's safe." She says all this mostly to me.
"Hello," I tell him. I turn to the others. "So, what do you want to do now? Is there like a little restaurant or something you want to go to?"
"Well, there are a few little cafés and whatnot around," Sky replies. "We could go to one of them, if you want."
Everyone nods in agreement. "Why don't we go to The Orb?" suggests Gale. "It's got great food and it's a decent walk and very scenic too, so we can work up an appetite and take a look at some things around."
We all agree. We begin the walk down to The Orb. Man, Gale wasn't kidding. It is pretty scenic. We pass by a giant mural, some beautiful orchids, and some truly incredible trees. Along the way, we see Flora.
"Hey, Flora!" Sky hollers. "We're headed down to The Orb. You wanna come?" She nods excitedly and the seven of us head on down.
The Orb is a small little café, with some tables outside and some booths inside. "Let's sit outside tonight," Lilly suggests. "The sunset is truly spectacular out here." It sounds great to me.
A waitress comes to our table to take our orders. River says it'll be on her, and suggests we all order "Icewine". I do. She probably knows what things taste nice. Our pets start to get all impatient so we set them in the animal pen at the side of the café.
"So, what do you guys use as a currency?" I ask while we wait for our drinks.
Sky answers me. "Well, since we don't need money, we kinda trade things, you know what I mean? Like food or clothing. You'd be surprised how high demand is for all of it."
I look at her. "Are you serious?" I question. I don't buy it. She nods and tries to stifle a smile. Then they all burst out laughing.
"What?!" I demand. "What's so funny?"
As soon as she can breath again, Sky clarifies. "Of course not, silly!" she laughs. "I was only kidding. We trade gems. You'll find a bunch in your cellar, and you get a few with your food shipments." I glare at them, but I can't hold it and start laughing, too. Rocky does this weird laugh-snort thing that makes us all laugh harder. By the time we finally stop, my sides ache like crazy.
The waitress comes with our Icewines. I gape at mine. "Wh-what is this beautiful drink?" I stutter in disbelief.
"That's Icewine," Lilly says. "It's basically a special kind of wine with this stuff called sugar, which comes from a plant, as well as a touch of cinnamon. Then they scoop ice cream on the top, which is essentially milk, sugar and flavouring all frozen together. It's very cold and delicious."
The waitress plops a hollow tube, apparently called a straw, in each of our drinks, and sets some small spoons down on the table for each of us. I guess for the ice cream. I take a sip of the drink and nearly fall out of my chair. It's delicious! The ice cream makes it nice and cold, and the drink itself is very sweet, with a winey tang to it, which I enjoy. I've learned to like wine. I visited a lot of bars while I was on the run, because they were nice and remote and served food and drink to pretty much anyone.
"This-this is the most delicious thing I've tasted in my life!" I sputter, looking gratefully at River.
River smiles at me. "Wait till you try the ice cream," she says. I pick up a spoon and take a small scoop. Plopping it my mouth, I'm surprised I don't pass out. It has an incredible taste, all creamy and smooth and cold and sweet. I start shovelling it in my mouth as fast as I can, which brings a worried look from Flora.
"Uh, you might not want to..." Flora warns, but it's too late. The pain strikes me right in between the eyes and all around my brain.
"Aauuggh!" I cry out. "What just happened?"
Gale, who is trying desperately not to laugh, says to me, "It's called brain freeze, Pyrus. It's what happens when you eat ice cream too fast."
The pain slowly starts to fade, and I am able to relax. I let out a little chuckle. "Well, you learn something new everyday!" I say as if I already know everything. They all laugh, and I laugh with them.
We spend the rest of the evening chatting and drinking. I learn a lot about my new friends. For example, Sky's and Rocky's parents actually named them for their true names, because Rocky and Sky are common names where they come from. Lilly's parents sent her away down a river as a baby, for fear of their daughter being captured and killed. Flora came from Sky's village, and Gale's parents are non-magic, something she gets teased about a lot. Her eyes get all teary and I try to comfort her by telling her that she's lucky because my parents died in that plague. This makes her smile sadly.
Lilly was right about the sunsets. They are incredible from here, like the sky being set ablaze. Beautiful colours flood the sky, like an explosion of light. We stay until it gets dark, before we all actually head home. Firebolt has fallen asleep in my lap, so I have to carry him home.
"Bye everyone!" I call out as they leave. "Goodnight!"
"'Night!" they call back. I continue walking back to my house, after collecting Firebolt.
When I arrive, I set Firebolt down in his bed and grab a piece of bread before falling asleep myself. 'What a day,' I think. Sleep comes quickly.
----------------------------------------------------
The next few days go by smoothly. I am now a fluent writer and can manipulate objects to do stuff even while I'm not focused on them, like making a quill write on it's own or making the dishes clean themselves. I also learn some other spells and whatnot, and I am now a fairly decent user of fire magic.
Today, Firebolt and I are going to get to go hunting for game, along with Delta, Sun, Moon, and River and their pets. Or at least, Delta's and mine. Salamanders aren't very useful in a hunt, but Delta's Griffin earns it's keep. We are able to snatch up some deer and boar, and we also snag a couple rabbits. Everyone is light hearted and cheerful after the good haul.
We are walking back with the catch when I see something out of the corner of my eye. "Over there," I say, pointing. "I saw something, over there."
"Any idea what it was?" pressed Delta.
I shake my head. "But it definitely wasn't game. Someone should probably take a look."
Delta frowns. "You all wait here," he orders. "I'll go check it out." He then walks over to the place where I saw the movement. He soon disappears into the thick brush.
The rest of us wait here for him to return. Firebolt peers anxiously into the brush, whining and tugging at the leash. "Shh, boy. He'll be back soon," I soothe. Just then, a bloodcurdling scream of pain pierces the air.
"Oh my god!" River exclaims. "That was Delta!"
"Come on!" I yell, taking charge. We all nock our bows, and run in the direction we heard the scream. Firebolt scurries about, nose to the ground, looking around frantically while the rest of us holler Delta's name.
Then Firebolt stops sniffing and sits down in front of a gnarly old white pine that has to be at least a meter in diameter.
"What is it, boy?" I ask. "Did you find something?" He whines and thrusts his nose at the pine. I look behind it and gasp.
"Oh my god..." I breath, my voice gone. "Guys! Over here!" I holler.
They run over. River gets here first. She looks behind the tree and starts sobbing. Then the twins arrive and faint. I just crumple to the ground, the strength of my legs gone. There, lying face up, is Delta. A long, black spear protrudes from his chest. He is dead, his blood spilled everywhere, staying the ground crimson.